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Terry Carbonell, Pilot  My mantra for life is "Never let fear, alone, stop you." I started flying at the ripe ole' age of 44 at the request of my husband, a private pilot who passed away in 2008 from Alzheimer's Disease. I did not take to flying: the development of wings has been an evolutionary process  which has taken its' jolly old time. But after over 7 years, 2000+ hours, an instrument rating, a commercial
rating, tail wheel rating, a sea plane rating, ground instructor certificates, CFI, CFI-I and lots of help from other
pilots, instructors and friends, my flight feathers are becoming fully developed, and I look forward to a long love affair
with life above this earth. This
will be my sixth year flying the Air Race Classic; the first being in 2007. From the planning to the cross country trip
out to Oklahoma City and through-out the race to Saint John and back home, I was pretty well hooked. I liked the
atmosphere, the excitement of the race, the planning and strategy, and the other ladies who were
I am thrilled to be flying with Ellen again this year in the 2013 Air Race Classic. We have developed a great friendship that has spanned the last several years of working with the Paradise Coast Chapter 99s and flying in the 2010 and 2012 race .... and we have not killed each other yet!!!
Aviation affiliations include the Ninety-Nine's, Paradise Coast Chapter (Secretary and Southease Section Vice Governor), Women in Aviation Int'l, EAA, Lawyer-Pilots Association, Florida Bar - Aviation Law Committee, volunteer for Angel Flight, Director/Secretary for Air Race Classic, Inc. and AOPA. Ellen Herr, Co-Pilot
 Raised in central Illinois,
my first flight was with my father in his Piper Cub from a grass strip on our farm.
Recently I have purchased my first aircraft, a Cirrus SR22. I am really enjoying learning to fly a technically advanced aircraft. Accompanied by my husband, Ed Thurn, we will be doing some cross country flying to visit family in the Midwest. We’re also looking forward to traveling to the west coast to Oregon and Washington. Flying has been such a wonderful way to see the world and meet many fascinating people. I’ve recently begun flying with the Pilots N Paws program transporting dogs to new adoptive homes. I continue to serve as secretary of the Cub Club and participate in the activities of the Paradise Coast Ninety-Nines. This will be my third Air Race Classic flying with a veteran racer. What a challenge!  VERNON CONLY: Ace mechanic and the keeper of Wild Mama, Vern has been with the team since inception.
He leads the team with mechanical and performance advice and makes sure Wild Mama is always ship shape and ready
for adventure. We appreciate his advice and counsel. Vern is an IA and 25 year pilot.  Jim Reynolds: Team Wild Mama had our very own Weather guy. We welcome Jim who promised us tailwinds
when all others have headwinds, blue skies where others have rain and accurate forecasts. (No pressure there.) We have to say, Jim delivered on most of the promises in 2010.
(He did allow others some tail winds and blue skies.) Jim is a retired airline Captain with a lifetime of aviation experience
and a pilot on the B-25, Pacific Prowler. He is also restoring a Douglas A26 called "Special Kay". LAURA YING GAO: Although she will not accompany us physically in the airplane this year, Laura will certainly be with us in spirit and will be providing her usual expertise. She knows the plane and she knows the secrets to winning. We will miss her on the adventure but we will carry her strength, energy and will to win with us always ... plus a few other little goodies that she will send  with us for our journey. Hehehe ... |
volunteers and competitors but became friends. 
The 2007 trip included an overflight of the Grand Canyon, a visit to a fellow racer in southern California, Yosemite
National Park, the many air museums in northern Oregon, Seattle, Teton National Park and the Ozark region of Arkansas.
We have also flown Wild Mama to Niagara Falls, Cancun, Mexico and to the Bahamas, not to mention the 2007 ARC
from Oklahoma City to Saint John, NB, Canada. Flights in 2010 included a trip to Alaska and through Canada that found Wild
Mama flying about 60 hours through Alaska, Canada and all the way across the US and back. All and all, I have landed
at over 150 different airports throughout the US, Canada, Bahamas and Mexico. I have also participated 4 years in
the Okie Derby proficiency race garnering 2nd, 3rd and 7th place finishes and in 2010 added a 1st place finish in
the Sunshine Derby. Most importantly, I fulfilled my husbands' wish of spending all the time he could in an airplane during
the time he had left on this earth as he accompanied
me on the vast majority of my journies and logged over 1000 hours in 3 years as my most prized passenger and #1 fan.
on the glider rating. My last goal from 2012 was to write the Youth and Aviation Adventure Guide, a 124 page "workbook"
to be used with youth aviation programs. I was please with the book and have started distributing the book to kids to start
them on theur path toward the sky. 
living in upstate New York.
After moving to Florida several years ago, I joined a flying club based at Page Field, Fort Myers, FL.
Our pride and joy is a 1978 182RG.
She has 260 h.p., a 3-blade MT prop and a completely tricked-out panel, including XM Weather .
Her engine/prop combination make her a true "one-of-a-kind" aircraft. There is no other like her in the world. The
short version of the "Wild Mama" name is quite simple. When I bought the airplane I had a running "one-ups-manship"
with another pilot, Rob Weber. Seems he said his 172 was faster than mine . . . and it was. I had to solve the problem so
I bought the 182RG and was now faster than Rob. When I called him to chide him about the 
faster plane he asked me the tail number to which I replied: "November-6-1-4-Whisky-Mike." It was at that time he
coined the phrase. He said: "More like 6-1-4-Wild Mama!". . . and the name stuck. Thus, she
will be forever known as Wild Mama! Some argue, however, that the name applied equally to the pilot. Time
will tell.
